Portuguese woman arrested in Phuket after 1,807-day overstay
Immigration officers arrested a Portuguese woman at a restaurant in Ko Kaeo after finding she had remained in Thailand nearly five years beyond her permitted stay.
A Portuguese woman was arrested at a restaurant in Ko Kaeo, Phuket, on 13 October after immigration officers found she had overstayed her permission to remain in Thailand by 1,807 days.
Officers visited the restaurant in Mueang Phuket district at about 1.30pm as part of checks on foreign nationals suspected of immigration offences. They found the woman taking a cooking lesson and asked to see her identification documents.
She could not produce her original passport and instead showed officers a photograph of it on her mobile phone. Immigration officials then checked her details in the Immigration Bureau’s biometric system.
The checks identified her as a Portuguese national who entered Thailand through Suvarnabhumi Airport on 20 March 2020 under a 30-day visa exemption. She later received an extension from Phuket Immigration but did not apply for another extension after it expired, officials said.
She was charged with remaining in Thailand after her permission to stay had expired and was informed of her legal rights. Officers transferred her to investigators, while immigration officials began arrangements for her deportation.
